Volkswagen plans huge investment to become electric cars leader
Volkswagen plans to launch 30 all-electric models to reposition itself as a leader in “green” transport. Matthias Mueller, chief executive, said huge investments would be needed as the firm moves beyond the “dieselgate” scandal. He hopes that by 2025, all-electric cars would account for about 20-25 per cent of the German carmaker’s annual sales. Mr Mueller said VW’s transformation would involve investments in the double-digit billions of euros, funded by savings and cost-cuts, with all brands and businesses having to contribute. Latest figures from the European Automotive Manufacturers Association show that sales growth of Volkswagen-branded cars continues to suffer from the impact of the diesel scandal. (BBC)
Corruption
New Brazil corruption scandal could implicate 30% of lawmakers
Two top executives from Brazil’s Odebrecht and OAS construction multinationals, which stand at the centre of a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal, are in competition to secure a plea bargain from federal authorities which could implicate a staggering 29 percent of the nation’s elected officials. Brazilian authorities are requesting that both Odebrecht and Pinheiro provide new information and concrete testimonies to help prove that Brazilian politicians accepted bribes and in exchange granted government infrastructure contracts to the companies of Odebrecht and OAS. The Brazilian task force in charge of carrying out these investigations believes that Odebrecht and Pinheiro can provide details of around US$13 billion in dirty contracts, linking hundreds of Brazil’s most powerful politicians to the illegal bribery scheme, including current President Michel Temer. (TeleSUR)
Energy
Ashden awards for sustainable energy innovation announced
Twelve organisations and programmes have been announced as winners of the 2016 Ashden Awards, which reward excellence in sustainable energy. In the UK, the winners include Tempus Energy, for using technology to connect customers with the cheapest-available energy prices, and Open Energi, which won two prizes for its work to stabilise energy demand and enable the transition to renewable power. International winners include Chinese green buildings specialist Landsea, and Nazava Water Filters, which enables lower income households in Indonesia to purify water without the need to boil it. Greenlight Planet won an IKEA Foundation-sponsored award for reaching more than four million households with reliable solar products. Sarah Butler-Sloss, Ashden’s Founder Director, said: “The winners of this year’s Ashden Awards are really pushing the boundaries when it comes to innovation, being ahead of the curve and working towards our vision of a world where everyone has access to affordable clean energy.” (Ashden)
Clean energy for poorest starved of investment, say researchers
Only a tiny fraction of climate change funding is going into small-scale solar, biogas and other off-grid systems that may be the best way to get power to the world’s poorest, say the latest figures from the Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Its new report points to a challenge for the main international organisation promoting access to clean energy for everyone, which this week adopted a strategy to achieve that goal earlier than a 2030 deadline. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said $23 billion was required annually for decentralised energy to provide everyone in the world with electric power. The IIED calculated that, of the $14.1 billion approved by governments in international climate finance between 2003 and 2015, only 3.5 percent was specifically allocated for decentralised energy projects, with most public climate finance going to large-scale energy projects in high and middle-income countries. (Eco-business)
Responsible Investment
Cambridge University rejects calls to divest from fossil fuels
The University of Cambridge has rejected calls to divest its £5.9 billion endowment from fossil fuels, as students, academics and the former archbishop of Canterbury have called for. In a report, the university ruled out future investments in coal and tar sands, although it currently has no direct holdings in either. But the working group on investment responsibility argued it was better to keep investments in oil and gas companies, and engage with them. Cambridge’s endowment is rivalled in Britain only by that of the University of Oxford, which reached a similar decision on coal and tar sands last year but ruled out divestment. Angus Satow, campaigns officer at the Cambridge Zero Carbon Society, said: “Whilst we welcome these tentative first steps to divestment, this is too little, too slow. The university has failed to live up to its own mission statement, including ‘concern for sustainability and the relationship with the environment’.” (Guardian)
Image source: Renewable Energy by Pexel / Public Domain
COMMENTS